


i said f-r-i-e-n-d friend (i need you)

by restez



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: (this one is for the platonic!chlodrien stans yall drink that friendship juice and i respect that), Alternate Universe - No Miraculous, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-21
Updated: 2019-05-21
Packaged: 2020-03-09 00:41:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,164
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18905986
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/restez/pseuds/restez
Summary: Chat Noir [3:45 AM]:But I guess the one thing I regret most is that I never tried to fix my relationship with my childhood friend.or:Adrien and Chloé are Twitter mutuals who don't know each other's real identities.





	i said f-r-i-e-n-d friend (i need you)

**Author's Note:**

> **chloe:** you know adrien, youre pretty cool.  
>  **adrien:** the cooliest?? :D  
>  **chloe:** don't ruin it
> 
> in this house, we use aus usually written for romantic ships for friendship!

 

 

**Queen Bee [8:53 AM]:** On god have you seen the new fall collection from Audrey Bourgeois??

**Queen Bee [8:54 AM]:** Honestly the designs arent bad but if Audi Booyah ever comes at me with that dirt-inspired palette I’d fight her

 

Adrien snorts at his phone, grinning with his thumbs poised over the keyboard to reply, when a cough from across the table brings him back to reality.

 

“Dude,” Nino says, setting down his frappe with a pout, “are you even listening?”

 

He smiles sheepishly, shoulders hunching as his cheeks flush. “Sorry.”

 

“No, no, it’s fine.” His friend sighs dramatically. “I already know I’m your second favorite best friend. Go ahead and talk to your platonic soul mate, while I beg for attention elsewhere.”

 

“You’re not my second favorite best friend!” exclaims Adrien, appalled. “ _Nobody_ is my second favorite best friend! You’re all my favorites!”

 

“I’d be touched,” replies Nino, taking a sip from his cup, “if you weren’t already looking at your Twitter again.”

 

Guiltily, Adrien places his phone face down onto the table and folds his hands neatly in his lap. “Oops.”

 

“You’ve known Queen Bee for what—half a year? And you laugh at her jokes more than you do at mine. Oh god, is this what jealousy feels like?”

 

“Maybe she’s just funnier than you.”

 

“Adrien, if you’re trying to make me feel better, you’re doing an absolutely horrible job at it.” Nino falls back against his chair, striking a pose that screams ‘ _woe is me_ ,’ but Adrien knows he’s only teasing. He laughs, settling into his seat, enjoying the soft chatter of the café around them. “Are you ever gonna meet up with her?”

 

He stiffens, hesitating. “I don’t know…”

 

Nino’s face softens, and in a low voice, he says, reassuringly, “I’m sure she won’t treat you differently after finding out who you are.”

 

He knows that; he does. Maybe it’s a bit bold and naive of him to claim he trusts someone he’s known for only a few months, but he’s confident that Queen Bee wouldn’t change her opinion of him just because he’s a _little_ (a lot, Nino would correct) famous.

 

Still, Adrien isn’t used to the idea of having people _know_ him.

 

They know Adrien Agreste; they know things about him that he allows himself to talk about in magazine interviews. But they don’t know the parts of himself that he expresses through Chat Noir’s Twitter—the parts that like making bad puns or listening to anime openings or indulging in terrible fashion trends (he bought a Balenciaga T-Shirt Shirt a while back, but sadly, he hasn’t gotten a chance to wear it).

 

Queen Bee knows Chat, and she knows plenty about Adrien Agreste, the supermodel, but she doesn’t know Chat and Adrien are one and the same.

 

And Adrien isn’t certain if he’s ready for her to know flirty, laid-back Chat is also shy and _perfect_ Adrien Agreste. He won’t keep it a secret forever—he doesn’t _want_ to keep it a secret forever—but for now, he’ll keep things the way they are.

 

“Yeah,” he finally answers, dragging his finger through the ring of condensation left behind by his cup of iced coffee. “Maybe someday.”

 

Nino doesn’t push the matter any further, and Adrien feels thankful for it.

 

“Speaking of meeting up with people, are you planning on going to the reunion next week?”

 

Adrien blinks. “Reunion?”

 

His friend’s eyebrows raise. “Yeah, the one Rose is organizing for everyone who was in Ms. Bustier’s class? Didn’t you get the invitation?”

 

“That’s _next week_?” he exclaims, grabbing his phone to check his calendar. Sure enough, the event is logged into his schedule, typed in all caps. “I thought it wasn’t for another month!”

 

“Will you be able to make it?”

 

Adrien runs a hand through his hair and considers ordering a caramel macchiato out of stress. “Yeah, I made sure to ask my agent to avoid scheduling any jobs for that weekend—I just thought I had more time to, like, psych myself up.”

 

“For what?” Nino smiles. “Seeing Marinette?”

 

“Oh my god, Marinette’s going to be there?”

 

“Wait”—a frown, this time—“you didn’t know? What were you so nervous about then?”

 

He swallows with difficulty, fidgeting with the bracelets on his wrist. “Well, is _everyone_ going to be there?”

 

For a moment, all Nino does is stare at him, bewildered, but suddenly, realization dawns on him. He understands. “You know how Rose is—I doubt she’d leave anybody out, so...maybe.”

 

Maybe.

 

There’s a bundle of emotions in his chest, too troublesome to open all at once, and his palms are sweaty.

 

_Maybe Chloé will be there._

 

\--

 

Adrien might have quit modelling for his father’s company a long time ago, but he didn’t want to quit the industry. He liked fashion, liked the shows and photoshoots, liked seeing the glow on designers’ faces when he wore their clothes for the first time—and he’d be damned if he let his dad ruin something else for him.

 

Finding an agency to accept him as a model was easy: he’d already made a name for himself, and any company who hired him was sure to receive a flood of offers, even if his abrupt departure from _Gabriel Agreste’s_ employment had been a minor scandal for a little while.

 

Working as a model without his father micromanaging every detail in his life (all while neglecting everything else that actually mattered) turns out to be a blessing. For the first time in forever, Adrien can breathe again.

 

But even though things are way better than they were before, there are still times when the polite smiles and parties and constant networking become exhausting. A little over six months ago, Adrien was going through one of those times.

 

It was late at night, but he’d been awake, scrolling through his private Twitter account despite how heavy his body felt. Something in him fought against the idea of sleep—maybe the same something that reared its ugly head on days when interviews were too sweet and fake.

 

He remembers stumbling across a post, reTweeted by a fashion account he’d followed a few days earlier.

 

**Queen Bee** @buzzon

Yall gna call Gabraham Agreste the greatest fashion designer of our time but Ive seen him in that same damn suit for the last thousand years

 

Adrien actually laughed out loud. His father’s skills might be considered top-notch in haute couture, but he knew nothing about applying those same talents to the clothes he picked out for himself.

 

Grinning from ear to ear, he replied:

 

**Chat Noir** @clawsout

Replying to @buzzon

Maybe his wardrobe is just a walk-in closet with lineup after lineup of the same outfit. #thisweekonbuzzfeedunsolved

 

A couple of minutes later:

 

**Queen Bee** @buzzon

Replying to @clawsout

That sounds like a nightmare I once had

 

Snorting, he liked the response, and that, he thought, was the end of it.

 

But it wasn’t.

 

Because two weeks later, he was back on Twitter during his break time for a photoshoot, rolling his eyes at an interview that did nothing but fawn over Audrey Bourgeois. Sure, her work was _good_ , but knowing who she was, knowing what kind of person she was—it destroyed any kind of respect he might have had for her.

 

**Chat Noir** @clawsout

Replying to @fashionbot

No one:

Literally not a single soul:

Audi Booyah: “Everyone calls me the queen of fashion.”

 

He turned his phone off and got back to work after that, so he didn’t see the notifications until much later.

 

**Queen Bee** @buzzon

Replying to @fashionbot @clawsout

AUDI BOOYAH

 

**Queen Bee** @buzzon

Replying to @fashionbot @clawsout @buzzon

Its been hours and Im /still laughing

 

@buzzon is now following you!

 

With a small smile, Adrien tapped on Queen Bee’s profile and followed her back. Not even five minutes later, he received the first DM from her.

 

( **Queen Bee [11:56 PM]:** Gabraham and Audi knowing each other is proof of the FDCU (fashion designer cinematic universe), an essay)

 

The rest was history.

 

\--

 

 

**Chat Noir [5:13 PM]:** So I’m freaking out.

 

**Queen Bee [5:14 PM]:** Why?? Is somethign wrong?? Are you ok??

 

**Chat Noir [5:14 PM]:** No yeah! I’m fine! Just stressed out a teensy weensy bit.

 

**Queen Bee [5:17 PM]:** How much is a teensy weensy bit

 

**Chat Noir [5:21 PM]:** Okay, so, you know that childhood friend I told you about a while ago?

 

**Queen Bee [5:22 PM]:** Yeah??

 

**Chat Noir [5:23 PM]:** I think I’m going to be seeing her again pretty soon.

 

**Queen Bee [5:24 PM]:** :00 For a smackdown??

 

**Chat Noir [5:24 PM]:** Yeah, and I’m inviting you to come watch. Place your bets on me.

**Chat Noir [5:25 PM]:** No, but really, we have a class reunion coming up, and this is going to be the FIRST time I’ve seen her in years.

**Chat Noir [5:32 PM]:** Bee??

 

**Queen Bee [5:34 PM]:** Yeah sorry I was just

**Queen Bee [5:35 PM]:** doing laundry

**Queen Bee [5:35 PM]:** And?? Whatre you worried about

 

**Chat Noir [5:37 PM]:** I want to talk to her.

**Chat Noir [5:38 PM]:** But I feel like I’m going to mess it up and back out again.

**Chat Noir [5:40 PM]:** I don’t want to miss another chance to reconnect like I did before.

**Chat Noir [5:41 PM]:** What if she doesn’t even want to be friends again?

 

**Queen Bee [5:45 PM]:** Chat Im about to initiate Soft hours for the first time in my life but dont expect me to ever do it again

**Queen Bee [5:46 PM]:** I think youre one of the kindest ppl Ive ever met

**Queen Bee [5:46 PM]:** Youre sweet and funny and caring and youre the sort of person ppl regret not keeping in their lives

**Queen Bee [5:47 PM]:** I think if this girl rlly was your childhood friend and you two were as close as you said you were shell realize that too

**Queen Bee [5:49 PM]:** Have a little confidence!! I dont think Ive ever believed in someone more

 

Adrien doesn’t know what to feel. A great big knot of gratitude, of relief, of sadness sticks in his throat, but most important of all, he isn’t dreading this weekend anymore. He feels ready, _confident_.

 

**Chat Noir [5:55 PM]:** Awwwww Bee (´ ε ` )♡

 

**Queen Bee [5:56 PM]:** No

 

**Chat Noir: [5:56 PM]:** (っ˘з(˘⌣˘ ) ♡

 

**Queen Bee [5:57 PM]:** stOP soft hours are OVER so screen shot those messages so we can forget this happened

 

**Chat Noir [6:00 PM]:** Mayhaps I only want to show you affection! D:

 

**Queen Bee [6:01 PM]:** Yeah shove those feelings back inside buddy

 

He laughs, smiling fondly at his phone.

 

_Have a little confidence!_

 

Chloé will be there.

 

\--

 

Aside from his father, Chloé Bourgeois was one of the biggest parts of Adrien’s life.

 

They grew up together: through magical girl animes, an avid love for fashion, and parents that seemed to live in their own world, light-years away, they’d established a close bond, stronger than anything.

 

(Or so it appeared anyway.)

 

His best memories as a kid often involved her, if not his mom.

 

Too many years have passed for him to recall any especially vivid details, but he knows there were sleepovers and playdates and days spent talking, devising ridiculous plans to get Gabriel and Audrey to notice them.

 

For a while, they only had each other to rely on (and Mr. Cuddly, Adrien thinks, much to his amusement; he remembers the teddy bear as his bitter rival for Chloé’s attention).

 

The gap between them probably started to form a few years after Chloé was sent to school, and Adrien was kept at home to learn lessons in his house, with no one but the tutor to keep him company.

 

He envied her. All the stupid things he learned—piano and Chinese and English and fencing and all that stuff—would’ve been better at _school_ , where he could make friends and talk to people just like Chloé did.

 

“You’re not missing out on much,” she sniffed, every time he asked her about her day. “It’s not that fun, and the teachers are _boring_. It’s better at home!”

 

She didn’t get it, didn’t understand—how trapped he felt, how starved for friends and company and love he was, how _lonely_ the house he once liked living in became.

 

(But maybe he didn’t understand something, too.

 

Maybe there was a reason why Chloé didn’t like school, didn’t like the kids there, didn’t like talking about her day or her week or anything about what her friends said.

 

He doesn’t know. He never asked.)

 

Chloé changed, and so did he.

 

By the time they started high school at Collège Françoise Dupont, they were completely different: different in their values, their personalities, their treatment of other people. The gap quickly grew wider, and Adrien didn’t make an effort to bridge it.

 

(There were moments, of course, when he considered trying.

 

He’d meet her eyes from across the room, but then all he’d do at the end was wave and smile.)

 

Then, the fight happened.

 

“You can’t just keep treating people this way, Chloé,” he remembers saying. “You made Marc cry!”

 

“So what!” she snapped, so furiously that even Sabrina stepped away from her. “So what if I made him cry? If he can’t take a little bit of criticism, then he’s weak! Why do you even _care_!”

 

“Why _don’t_ you care!” he shot back, fists clenched. “How can you just _bully_ people and laugh about it?”

 

“ _I_ _don’t bully people!”_

 

The silence that followed her outburst had been deafening.

 

“I thought you were my friend,” she said finally, and nobody would have been able to miss the way her voice shook. “Maybe I was wrong.”

 

He remembers the deep cut of betrayal, remembers the hurt that sliced through the deepest part of him, remembers slowly cracking apart.

 

His breaths were shaky, painful, and raw. “Chloé, if you can’t treat people better, maybe we shouldn’t be friends anymore.”

 

He remembers pretending that he couldn’t see the tears gathering in her eyes.

 

The rest was history.

 

\--

 

( _Two months ago:_

 

**Queen Bee [3:08 AM]:** Chat is there anything you regret??

 

Adrien wasn’t sure if Bee wanted him to answer the question sincerely, but his fingers were shaking when he replied.

 

**Chat Noir [3:35 AM]:** Sure, lots of things.

**Chat Noir [3:39 AM]:** Like that time I accidentally sneezed in my lab partner’s face during my first year of high school, and when I didn’t ask my crush out for a date when we graduated, and also the invention of Croc Uggs.

 

_But I guess the one thing I regret most_ , he started to type, and his heart beat firmly in his chest, loud and fast. This was okay; he trusted Queen Bee, and this was the one secret he’d never told anyone, not even Nino, but he so badly wanted someone to know.

 

**Chat Noir [3:45 AM]:** But I guess the one thing I regret most is that I never tried to fix my relationship with my childhood friend.

 

_Chloé, I’m sorry. Let’s be friends again._ How many times had those words emerged on the tip of his tongue, only to be swallowed down, down to the pit of his stomach? _Chloé, let’s try to understand each other this time. I don’t want us to fall apart._

 

**Queen Bee [3:47 AM]:** Chat sometimes I think we’re the same person lol

 

**Chat Noir [3:47 AM]:** What?

 

**Queen Bee [3:48 AM]:** I had a friend I really cared about too

**Queen Bee [3:49 AM]:** Things fell apart and I never got to apologize

**Queen Bee [3:51 AM]:** He deserved better

 

Adrien released a breath he didn’t know he was holding. Someone understood; someone got it.

 

**Chat Noir [3:53 AM]:** Better than you? Never (o_o)

 

**Queen Bee [3:54 AM]:** I know, hard to believe right???

 

**Chat Noir [3:55 AM]:** Almost unbelievable.

**Chat Noir [3:56 AM]:** Thank you btw

**Chat Noir [3:56 AM]:** For telling me.

 

**Queen Bee [3:57 AM]:** Same to you

**Queen Bee [3:58 AM]:** Thank you

**Queen Bee [4:00 AM]:** But also!!!

**Queen Bee [4:01 AM]:** What tf do you have against croc uggs???? Like excuse you theyre trying their BEST

 

**Chat Noir [4:05 AM]:** I am TIRED of you defending CROCS ever since you bought those Balenciaga Croc platforms!

 

**Queen Bee [4:05 AM]:** Its!! Called! Fashion!!!! Wake up chat!!

 

Half an hour later, he fell asleep, phone still in his hand and the faintest ghost of a smile on his lips.)

 

\--

 

A day before the reunion, Adrien paces in his apartment as Nino lays back on the couch, languidly flipping through a magazine.

 

“Dude, you’re gonna set your carpet on fire if you keep that up.”

 

“Then what am I supposed to do?” he asks, chewing on his thumbnail. “I’m nervous!”

 

“Yeah, I can tell.” Nino sits up, setting the issue of _Vogue_ down on the coffee table. “Listen, if you don’t want to tell her your real identity, you don’t have to. You’re allowed to take your time with this, remember?”

 

“I _do_ want to tell her!” he wails, arms flailing. “The timing feels right. She encouraged me about Chloé, and she’s probably one of my closest friends—I said _one_ of my closest friends, Nino! Stop pouting!”

 

“Okay, then tell her.”

 

“It’s not,” Adrien pauses for dramatic effect, “that simple. Let’s say I tell her—then what?”

 

“Then she knows.”

 

“Then she _knows!”_

 

Nino sighs, adjusting his glasses and leaning forward with his hands clasped together. “Can I be honest with you?”

 

“ _Please_.”

 

His friend levels a steadfast gaze against him. “I don’t think you’ll regret telling her.”

 

The conviction in Nino’s tone takes him aback. Adrien feels at a loss for words, no longer able to argue. “How can you be so sure?”

 

He gets a shrug in response, which would normally worry him, but today, the gesture somehow puts his nerves at ease. The world doesn’t seem so loud or messy anymore.

 

“It’s the way you talk about her. Makes me wanna trust her, you know?”

 

He knows; he does.

 

\--

 

( _Three months ago:_

 

**Queen Bee [8:25 PM]:** Do you know @adrienagreste???

 

He took a deep breath, then unlocked his phone.

 

**Chat Noir [8:37 PM]:** Yeah, why?

 

**Queen Bee [8:38 PM]:** Hes kinda awesome

 

_You’re young, successful, and handsome—an all-around perfect guy! You’re kinda awesome, you know?_ At some point, interviewers start sounding the same, echoing the same types of sentiments over and over and over again. Adrien felt his throat constrict.

 

**Chat Noir [8:45 PM]:** Awesome how?

 

**Queen Bee [8:46 PM]:** Well he just refused an offer to work with Audi Booyah lol

**Queen Bee [8:47 PM]:** I mean most models jump at an opportunity to work with her or any famous designer like her but Adriens not like that you know??

**Queen Bee [8:49 PM]:** He knows about the shitty things ppl like Gabriel and Audrey do and how theyre nightmares to work with and he follows his own principles instead of chasing after fame

**Queen Bee [8:51 PM]:** He really really really cares, more than most ppl do

**Queen Bee [8:52 PM]:** I think its a talent to be that kind especially when hes probably had to deal with an environment that discourages that kind of thing for years

 

Adrien didn’t know what to think, to feel, to say back. Queen Bee liked Chat for who he was: a bit reckless, silly, and over-the-top. But that wasn’t a surprise, most people he talked to as Chat online liked him.

 

But she also liked Adrien, the one that existed underneath all the flowery facades and extra stuff.

 

The last time he’d been appreciated for all of him was years and years ago, sitting beside his best friend, a girl named Chloé.

 

His breaths were shaky and full _full_ of an inexplicable emotion: a vast ocean, maybe, of a loneliness suddenly shrunken down to a pond.

 

**Chat Noir [8:59 PM]:** He sounds great.

 

**Queen Bee [8:59 PM]:** Yeah he really does)

 

\--

 

Later, when Nino leaves, Adrien opens up Twitter and takes one, two, three deep breaths.

 

_Okay,_ he thinks. This is okay. Adrien trusts Queen Bee, and this is the one secret he hasn’t told her yet, and he so badly wants her to know.

 

**Chat Noir [7:01 PM]:** Bee (´｡• ᵕ •｡`)

 

**Queen Bee [7:05 PM]:** Whats up??

 

**Chat Noir [7:06 PM]:** I want to tell you something.

 

**Queen Bee [7:07 PM]:**?? Okay??

 

**Chat Noir [7:07 PM]:** Soft hours: open for business.

 

**Queen Bee [7:08 PM]:** Uh oh

 

**Chat Noir [7:12 PM]:** Listen, I know you get all ~shy~ when I get sappy, but strap your seatbelts because you’re in for a ride.

 

**Queen Bee [7:14 PM]:** Youve mistaken my repulsion for shyness but go on

 

**Chat Noir [7:14 PM]:** I want you to know that you’re important to me. I’ve only known you for a few months, but you’re as close to me as my other best friend, who I’ve known since high school. You’ve helped me out with so many things, and there are parts of me I’ve shared with you that I haven’t shown to anyone else.

**Chat Noir [7:16 PM]:** I think I would have freaked out about that reunion tomorrow and decided not to go if it weren’t for your encouragement. You mean a lot to me, so I wanted to tell you who I really am.

**Chat Noir [7:17 PM]:** You know how I was acting really weird that one time we talked about Adrien Agreste?

**Chat Noir [7:18 PM]:** That’s because he’s me.

**Chat Noir [7:18 PM]:** Or I’m him.

**Chat Noir [7:19 PM]:** What I mean is! I’m Adrien Agreste.

 

He waits for her reply to pop up—but it doesn’t. An inkling of fear begins to creep up on him.

 

**Chat Noir [7:28 PM]:** Bee??

**Chat Noir [7:28 PM]:** Are you doing laundry again?

 

**Queen Bee [7:29 PM]:** Oh my god

**Queen Bee [7:32 PM]:** oh mygod you really are adiren

 

He gulps.

 

**Chat Noir [7:33 PM]:** You knew?

 

**Queen Bee [7:34 PM]:** No but

**Queen Bee [7:36 PM]:** I had a feeling you were just so

**Queen Bee [7:37 PM]:** oh my gofd i knew it

 

His fingertips start to feel cold.

 

**Chat Noir [7:39 PM]:** Is it a problem?

**Chat Noir [7:39 PM]:** That I’m Adrien, I mean.

 

**Queen Bee [7:40 PM]:** No its not ofc its not

**Queen Bee [7:42 PM]:** i just

**Queen Bee [7:43 PM]:** Im really sorry Adrien but I cant do this right now

 

**Chat Noir [7:43 PM]:** Bee?? Whats goigin on?

 

**Queen Bee [7:44 PM]:** Its not your fault

**Queen Bee [7:45 PM]:** Sorry

 

**Chat Noir [7:45 PM]:** What??

**Chat Noir [7:50 PM]:** Bee seriously just tell me whats wrong

**Chat Noir [8:02 PM]:** Bee??

 

\--

 

The classroom at Collège Françoise Dupont looks the same: same seats, same layout, same people. But the years that have passed are evident. Everyone’s older, maybe wiser, maybe less confused, maybe more—but happy, eager to get into little groups and catch up with each other.

 

He stays by himself.

 

Nino had been with him at the start, but Adrien insisted he go to Alya when she arrived. It’d been a while since they’d gotten to talk, after all, and he doesn’t want to ruin his friend’s day with his sulking.

 

For the millionth time since last night, he checks his phone—but there aren’t any notifications from Twitter. Not only that, but the whole classroom seems to be full of people from Ms. Bustier’s class, and there’s no sign of Chloé. How could everything go so wrong? The punch in his mouth tastes bitter.

 

“Who’s got you looking at your phone like that?”

 

His heart leaps.

 

He looks up, and as always, his stomach flips and swoops in his stomach at the sight of her: Marinette.

 

She’s beautiful, with her hair cut short, dressed in clothes of her own design. He’s worked with her a couple of times since their graduation, but never for long. Marinette Dupain-Cheng, an up-and-coming fashion designer, always has her schedule full.

 

“Hey,” he manages, a bit awestruck. “Long time no see.”

 

“Long time no see,” she echoes and hesitantly holds out her arms.

 

They hug, awkwardly at first, then for real. Marinette is one of those people he doesn’t talk to often, but when they do get to speak to each other, he feels the click, the turning of cogwheels.

 

_(You’re good for each other_ , says Nino, and Adrien can’t argue with that.)

 

“So.” Her voice is soft, almost too quiet to hear. “Are you okay?”

 

His shoulders jump, and he nearly drops his drink.

 

“Of—of course!” Adrien stammers, tongue tied and face flushed. “Why wouldn’t I be?”

 

Marinette’s eyebrows are raised, and there’s a sparkle in her eyes that says she knows a lot more than he thinks she does. “Well, you’re standing by yourself, and there’s like”—she waves her hands around him—“this dark aura around you.”

 

Her comment pulls a laugh from him. She beams.

 

“So,” repeats Marinette. “Are you okay?”

 

_Not really_ , he says to himself. _I think I just ruined things with my best friend, and my ex-best friend, who I’ve been waiting to see for years, is nowhere to be seen._

 

“No,” he decides to say. “Not for now, anyway.”

 

Marinette nods, humming in understanding. “I didn’t come alone, you know.”

 

Oh god. First the disappointment from Queen Bee, then Chloé, and now Marinette, his crush since forever, might be dating someone? Adrien briefly considers pouring himself five more cups of punch.

 

“Did you come with Alya?” he asks hopefully.

 

She shakes her head. _Oh my god_. “Not a date, either, if that’s what you’re thinking.”

 

His cheeks and ears become hot. “I wasn’t...I wasn’t thinking that.”

 

A laugh; the room feels too warm.

 

“Adrien,” Marinette says, but her tone is gentle this time, not teasing, “there’s someone pacing the floor outside, trying to decide whether or not to see you.” She rolls her eyes. “It’s kinda driving me crazy.”

 

“Who?”

 

“Take a wild guess.” Giddily, she starts to walk away. “Who’ve you been talking to for the last six months?”

 

\--

 

So it makes sense, if he thinks about it, that Chloé and Queen Bee are the same person.

 

All their conversations had felt vaguely familiar, reminiscent of an earlier time before distances and differences and disputes. It makes sense, then, that Queen Bee had freaked out—because if he’d found out Queen Bee was his childhood friend the way she had, he would’ve needed a second (or a whole sleepless night) to sort out how he felt, too.

 

Adrien finds Chloé out in the hallway, pacing back and forth, just like Marinette said.

 

There’s no ponytail, no yellow cardigan and white pants—just his best friend with her hair worn down, dressed in a sundress paired with an awful pair of Crocs.

 

( _They’re comfortable_ , Queen Bee had said, _and there’s a certain power that comes with wearing Crocs while knowing exactly how much a pair of Gucci slippers costs._ )

 

She’s changed, and he has, too.

 

They’re different, but also, in some strange way, similar. (Maybe it was the magical girl animes, or the avid love of fashion, or the parents that seemed to live in a world of their own, light years away.)

 

“Bee,” he calls, and she freezes, completely silent. Smiling, Adrien tries again, but this time: “Chloé.”

 

She turns on him, indignant. “You’re an asshole.”

 

Adrien blinks. “What.”

 

Chloé squints at him, approaching him with a finger poised to jab him in the chest. “You think you can just let me go on and on and on about how great you are, and then turn around and say how much I mean to you, only to tell me you’re Chat? Or that Chat is Adrien? Or—” She breaks off with an exasperated shout. “You know what I mean!”

 

He can’t help but laugh, just like he did months and months ago, when he’d found her Tweet about his dad.

 

The hall becomes still. Chloé’s eyes are wide, but they aren’t as they were five years ago, filled with tears. “Did you mean all those things you said? About wanting to be friends again?”

 

A vast ocean of loneliness, suddenly shrunken down into a droplet, already evaporating. “Yeah.”

 

She looks down, inhaling deeply. “Me too.” With eyes back on him: “I mean, I meant what I said, too—about wanting to apologize, about how I wish I could have treated you better.”

 

Adrien nods.

 

“I’m really sorry, Adrien. I never wanted to stop being friends with you.”

 

He’s shaking, or maybe, that’s his heart, trembling so vehemently in his chest that he feels it everywhere.

 

“I forgive you, Chloé,” he says, and his mouth is dry, but he pushes forward, pushes the words off the tip of his tongue. “And I’m sorry. Let’s be friends again.” A deep breath from each of them. “Let’s try to understand each other this time, okay? I don’t want us to fall apart.”

 

She nods. “Yeah.”

 

They hug; he doesn’t know who reaches out first, but that doesn’t really matter.

 

What matters is this:

 

Chloé is here.

 

\--

 

**Interview With Adrien Agreste Goes Viral**

Written by Alya Césaire

This past weekend, Adrien Agreste, who’s refused to do interviews for the last month, suddenly agreed to meet with Chloé Bourgeois, a fellow peer at our university.

The video mostly follows the format of a normal interview, but it’s the very end of their conversation that’s grabbed Twitter’s attention.

“Who’s most important to you right now?” Bourgeois asked the model.

Agreste promptly smiled and replied, “My best friend,” followed by a brief pause before he continued, “Nino Lahiffe.”

Bourgeois’s response?

“You ass.”

Shortly after the release of the interview, Agreste revealed that he and Bourgeois have been friends since they were tots.

Perhaps Twitter’s reaction to this information is best summarized by this Tweet:

 

> **restez** @platonichlodrien
> 
> adriens laugh after chloe called him an ass is probably the first time ive seen him so genuinely happy…,.,.,,wow i hope they stay best friends forever

 

\--

 

**restez** @platonichlodrien

adriens laugh after chloe called him an ass is probably the first time ive seen him so genuinely happy…,.,.,,wow i hope they stay best friends forever

 

**Adrien (･ω <)☆ **@adrienagreste

Replying to @platonichlodrien

Me too uwu soft hours

 

**Chloé** @bourgeoischloe

Replying to @platonichlodrien @adrienagreste

I said STOP

  
  
  
  


**Author's Note:**

> I genuinely have so much work to get done, but I needed this fic to vent _all_ my college stress. This was all done in a day, so I'm sorry for any mistakes that escaped my notice while editing ;; 
> 
> Thank you for reading! Feel free to drop kudos/ a review.


End file.
